Postal Worker Sentenced in Theft of Direct Mail

A U.S. Postal Service employee who stole thousands of pieces of direct mail to garner ideas for a direct mail business he planned to start was sentenced to three years probation in federal court Friday.

The thefts were discovered Nov. 10, 2003, when a fire broke out at the Downers Grove, IL, home of the employee, Gordon Richardson Jr. The USPS suspended Richardson, a distribution clerk at the Oak Brook, IL, post office, after the mail was found in his home.

In an indictment made public Jan. 15, 2004, Richardson was accused of stealing about 26,000 pieces of mail since he began working as a mail sorter in August 1975.

David Colen, a spokesman for the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, said that a few pieces of direct mail were stolen almost every day over many years. The thefts drew no suspicion because no greeting cards or other First-Class letters that people expected to receive were stolen, he said. In those cases customers often complain, alerting postal officials to potential problems with a letter carrier.

Richardson was arraigned in U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago.

Next Article in Direct Mail

Sign up to our newsletters

Best of... Weekly

Daily Insider

Events Weekly

Hot List of the Day

Sponsored Promotion

Whitepaper of the Day

DMNTech Roundup

DMNTech Sponsored Promotion

Company of the Week

Since 1985, Melissa has helped thousands of companies clean, correct and
complete contact data to better target and communicate with their customers. We offer a full
spectrum of data quality solutions, including global address, phone, email, and name
validation, identify verification - available for batch or real-time processes, in the Cloud
or on-premise. Our service bureau provides dedupe, email/phone append and
geographic/demographic append services for better targeting and insight. For direct mailers,
Melissa offers easy-to-use address management/postal software, list hygiene services and
100s of specialty mailing lists - all with competitive pricing and excellent customer
service.

Career Center

Check out hundreds of exciting professional opportunities available on DMN's Career Center.
Explore careers in digital marketing, sales, eCommerce, marketing communications, IT, data strategies, and much more. And don't forget to update your resume so employers can contact you privately about job opportunities.

Coverage

Resources

User Center

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in any form without prior authorization.
Your use of this website constitutes acceptance of DMN's Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.